You hear a lot of stories in the news about irresponsible parents. Maybe they left their child unattended in a supermarket or left them in the car on a hot day with the windows rolled up, either way the parents are usually faced with some sort of punishment. Some of the more popular stories you hear about irresponsible parents tend to deal with parents providing alcohol to their kids and their friends at parties when they are underage. Well, in Australia, a mother has taken this form of irresponsible parenting to a whole new level by allowing her 5-year-old son to get drunk.

The idiot mentioned is Kylie Eastwood, 36, who was responsible for the intoxication of her 5-year-old son. According to the Herald Sun Newspaper, Eastwood gave her son at least four shots of a homemade grappa, a grape-based brandy. According to the boy’s father, Eastwood acquired the grappa from a friend’s house and brought it home with her. She then proceeded to encourage her son to drink shots of the grappa, cheering him on as he did so. According to the boy’s father, “I walked into the kitchen and saw my son with a shot glass to his lips.”

Police discovered that the grappa was 44% alcohol and that the boy had a blood-alcohol level of 0.09. This number is extremely ridiculous considering that people are considered too drunk to drive in Australia when they reach a blood-alcohol level of 0.05 and are considered too drunk to drive in the United States when they reach a blood-alcohol level of 0.08! Congratulations Mrs. Eastwood, you successfully intoxicated your 5-year-old son to the point where it is illegal for him to operate a motor vehicle in at least 2 countries, I hope you are proud.

Eastwood pleaded not guilty stating that she didn’t mean to harm her son (suuuure) but Judge Margaret Rizkalla said that Eastwood knew what effects alcohol would have on the boy. Eastwood was sentenced to a meager eight months in jail for her crime, hardly a fair punishment if you ask me. It is unclear whether she still holds custody of the child. I honestly hope not.

I have heard a lot of dumb things in my life, but I have never heard of somebody knowingly intoxicating their 5-year-old son and cheering him on nonetheless. It disgusts me that people like this exist, and it greatly worries me that innocent children are in the “care” of such people. Yet another example that no matter how civilized you try to make this world, the wretched will always rear their ugly, disgusting heads.

Funerals are never easy. The loss of a close loved one is like losing a part of yourself. Typically the ones going through the funeral are surrounded by love, sympathy, compassion and caring people. However, while the funeral of Elizabeth Edwards, former Senator John Edwards’ late wife, will be filled with people who cared dearly about Elizabeth as well as those close to her, it will also be filled with hate, anger and the rants of the absurd.

The Westboro Baptist Church out of Kansas, which is known for picketing outside of the funerals of fallen soldiers, has released a statement saying that they will protest outside of the funeral of Edwards. The group plans on disrupting the funeral by saying that Edwards’ wife is quote “going to hell” for doubting her faith when her oldest son passed away in 1996.

Edwards, a political wife turned staunch advocate for affordable health care, passed away on Tuesday due to complications from breast cancer at the age of 61. The funeral is planned for tomorrow, December 11th, at the Edenton Street United Methodist Church in Raleigh, North Carolina. Edwards is then to be buried at the Oakwood Cemetery alongside her son Wade who passed away in a car accident at the age of 16.

In more absurd statements from representatives of the Westboro Baptist Church, “God heard self-absorbed Elizabeth as she rode the talk show circuit spewing blasphemy. Elizabeth Edwards and her faithless husband, John, lightly esteemed what they had. They coveted things that were not theirs and presumptuously thought they could control God.”

Like I mentioned above, the Westboro Baptist Church and its members, essentially the “extended family” of Pastor Fred Phelps, are no strangers to picketing funerals and are based in Topeka, Kansas. Members of the church planned on protesting a funeral in Indiana today of a fallen soldier killed in Afghanistan.

People are not sitting idly by while the “church” does this, however. The Supreme Court is currently deciding a case in which the father of a fallen soldier is suing the church after they protested his son’s funeral. The church members are defending themselves by saying they are only exercising their First Amendment Rights.

With the death of Elizabeth, John becomes the primary caretaker of the younger children of the family. According to ABC News, Edwards plans on moving back into the 28,000-square-foot mansion the couple built and once shared. John Edwards has thus far made no comments since his wife’s death.

Whatever this “church” claims to be, they are definitely not preaching the message of God. These radicals are a disgrace to the religion of Christianity and, in my opinion, a disgrace to humanity. If you want to see just how ridiculous the members of the Westboro Baptist Church really are, then check out this video of one of their members.

Billionaire Warren Buffett says rich people should pay more taxes. Patriotic Millionaires for Fiscal Strength are willing to sacrifice their own fiscal well-being for the common good. Right? Wrong! They aren’t risking anything themselves. But as many as 200,000 small businesses might be severely impacted by this devilish ploy by the elite left.

Are these multi-millionaires more patriotic than those who want the Bush Tax cuts extended for all Americans? It is not absurd to think that raising taxes on everyone making over $1 Million Dollars will be good for job creation or the economy in general? We are in a sever economic downturn. Now is not the time to raise taxes on anyone. Why doesn’t your little group donate your extra cash to the government. Hey NPR is looking for some more left wing money. Why not dump your cash in the trash heap of political thought. Wouldn’t that be more patriotic, helping government programs?

It is absurd for this group to call themselves Patriots. Tea Party or as you libs say, Tea Baggers, are the true patriots in this political arena. Not big government people who want the US to run everything from GM to Anthem. If you want to kill entrepreneurial spirit in this country, then raise taxes. You will get less of what you tax. Increase taxes on small business, get less small business.

What is the Incentive to Grow to $1 Million or more?
What small business person wants to raise their income to over $1 million if that bumps them into a larger tax bracket. If you are making $950K and you could grow (by hiring) to $1.2 Million, yo might not if your taxes will result in less after tax income. Where is the incentive to grow? Work harder, hire more employees for less money? I think very few small business owners would do that. Would you call these people unpatriotic?

Rude Rich Snobs
How insulting M-o-b-y. How Rude Bob Epstein. How out of line, Cynda Collins Arsenault. Must be nice to sit on your billion dollar thrones and speak down to the struggling small business person.

Here is a quote from these so called ‘patriots.’

We have done very well over the last several years. Now, during our nation’s moment of need, we are eager to do our fair share. We don’t need more tax cuts, and we understand that cutting our taxes will increase the deficit and the debt burden carried by other taxpayers. The country needs to meet its financial obligations in a just and responsible way.- Source: Patriotic Millionaires for Fiscal Strength

Not all millionaires are faring as well as these 45 Multi-Millionaires.
SMB, Small and Medium Sized Businesses are often Sub-Chapter S corporations. Income flows directly to these business owners. On good years, a million dollars may be their income. But on lean years, income could be considerably less, maybe even a loss. Small businesses need cash to weather the storm. Businesses that have contracted from $5 million to $1 million may be on the verge of going out of business AND laying off the rest of their crew if not for good years. So what are we going to do for businesses building a war chest? We are going to tax them more.

Multi-Millionaires don’t understand small business. They are right about themselves needing to pay more taxes, but they are dead wrong about small businesses owners near $1 Million.

It’s as if the super rich want to keep the nearly rich from become larger and thus employing more people. They want to keep their thumb on the small businessman. They are trying to get the man to keep us down. Keep small businesses small.

So who are these super rich patriots who want to step on the little business person? They are according to their website today:

You can reach their organization via their email: info@agendaproject.org
So we contact a guy named INFO. How personal.

If you don’t know what to say, let me get you started below:

——————————————-
Dear info:

First of all, if you had any balls at all, you would publish your membership email addresses. Let them tell me directly that I’m not a patriot because I am not a billionaire who wants to raise taxes on my fellow business owner.

Does that make it right? Do you patriots on the list want to see a 91% tax rate? Were millionaires in 1963 more patriotic? Hey, by the way, State revenues last year dropped the most since 1963. Not a good sign. You should have picked a different stat to spin.

Did you forget about this tax rate being the setup for the next decade and a half of poor economic performance in the US?

Just because you are billionaires doesn’t make you an economist. Nor does it make you more of a patriot than those paying little or no income tax.

Please stop insulting me and my fellow brother and sister small business owners.

]]>https://mediaabsurdity.wordpress.com/2010/11/22/are-you-a-tax-patriot/feed/4brawlinmelgarmobyWorst Person in the World Lost His Jobhttps://mediaabsurdity.wordpress.com/2010/11/06/worst-person-of-the-year-lost-his-job/
https://mediaabsurdity.wordpress.com/2010/11/06/worst-person-of-the-year-lost-his-job/#commentsSat, 06 Nov 2010 15:51:30 +0000http://mediaabsurdity.wordpress.com/?p=380]]>
The Worst person in the World lost his job today, Keith Olbermann will never speak into a MSNBC camera again. Olbermann violated his own company rules, requiring by written agreement to obtain permission from management before he donates to the candidates he pumps on his show.

His ‘Worst Person in the World’ segment routinely rates Fox News employees and conservative republicans as worse, worser and worst person in the World.

Ann Coulter was often portrayed as the worst person in th world. Keith would put an eyepatch over one of Ann’s eyes, to make her look evil too. How childish.

This man was no commentator, he was a hate monger. He would say things just to stir things up.

What a fitting end to a this horrible man and his hateful show. Here’s to you KO! You’re the worst person in the world.

In Keith’s Defense

MSNBC News Anchor, Rachel Maddow, waited until the very end of her show to tell us how she felt about Keith’s termination.

First she blamed Fox News, because they do it.
Wrong! Fox News employees do not break Fox rules, get caught and not get terminated.

Then she praised GE for being better than Newscorp, she said absurdly, “We are not a political operation.”
Ha, that’s a laugh, NBC and GE are as political as you can get. MSNBC has no balance at all. They don’t even have any black commentators. That’s their nickname, NBC- No Black Commentators. GE supported Barack Obama in the last presidential election, not John McCain. GE is no better than Newscorp. Both companies require their employees to abide by the rules.

Then she called what she, Rachel Maddow and Keith do, news.
Well if that isn’t the biggest laugh. She said, and I quote, “Yeah, Keith’s a liberal, and so am I. But we’re not a political operation – Fox is. We’re a news operation.”

I’m not sure what Rachel and Keith do, but one thing’s for sure, it isn’t the news.

]]>https://mediaabsurdity.wordpress.com/2010/11/06/worst-person-of-the-year-lost-his-job/feed/1brawlinmelgarAnn CoulterThere is no Free Speech at NPRhttps://mediaabsurdity.wordpress.com/2010/10/21/there-is-no-free-speech-at-npr/
https://mediaabsurdity.wordpress.com/2010/10/21/there-is-no-free-speech-at-npr/#commentsThu, 21 Oct 2010 15:31:26 +0000http://mediaabsurdity.wordpress.com/?p=363]]>
All Things Considered? Really? Does the NPR, the National Public Radio allow free speech by all its radio personalities? The answer is NO! and the evidence is the firing of Juan Williams for speaking his mind.

Juan Williams was fired by NPR over this remark, “…when I get on the plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous.”

Mr. Williams was clearly expressing his personal reservations about the subject matter, not making an anti-Muslim remark of any sort. Williams’ comment was not about Muslims directly, it was more how he deals with his bias. Yet NPR didn’t see it that way.

“His remarks on The O’Reilly Factor this past Monday were inconsistent with our editorial standards and practices, and undermined his credibility as a news analyst with NPR,” the NPR statement read.

Editorial Standards? Really
Is this what NPR has become? An editoral staff that is so strict that their employees cannot express an opinion without retaliation? I fail to see how Mr. Williams remarks compromises the “editorial standards’ of NPR.

NPR has no ‘public’ standards anyway, just an liberal agenda that only tolerates attacks on conservative values. NPR that once ran an editorial cartoon titled, “How To Speak Tea Bag,” yes its ok to attack some groups. Terry Gross’s NPR radio show is nothing but a Christian bashing, show that makes any Christian sound like an illiterate hate group. Also Daniel Shorr, Nina Totenberg, Diane Rheim, Scott Simon may as well be paid consultants of the Democratic party.

Not Public Radio
NPR needs a name change because they don’t really represent the views of the public. There is nothing ‘national’ or ‘public’ about a radio station that has ‘control’ over its employees right to free speech at this level. It really Not Public Radio its Nasty Private Radio.

Racism is Alive At NPR …Let’s keep it a Secret
As of today, NPR is officially a ‘racist’ radio station because it fired African-American, Juan Williams for stating his opinion. If Fox fired Williams for remarks, this would be a headline story.

Stop Funding NPR
It way beyond time to stop funding NPR with public money. Lets change the name to National Progressive Radio. US tax dollars should absolutely NOT be going to fund what for years has been a cathedral for the “progressive” speak. Maybe its time to start talking about implementing the Fairness Doctrine to NPR. Its time for NPR to try to survive on its own in the free market. Write your state and federal representatives and demand that NPR’s federal funding be removed and used to reduce our federal budget deficit.

As hard as everyone tries, it is inevitable they they will reach the end of their long journey. Sometimes, that end is a little more embarrassing than others. Last Sunday the owner of Segway Inc. perished in an ironic twist of fate when he drove a Segway off a cliff and into a river. Making this tragedy even more hard to believe is the fact that Jimi Heselden had only owned the Segway company since December. This blogger thinks that maybe that was an unwise purchase.

Last Sunday it was reported that Jimi Heselden had perished when he lost control of an ATV version of the Segway and plummeted to his demise over an 80-foot cliff. When the news went public about just how Heselden died, Segway Inc went into damage control mode, saying that “Segway Inc. stands behind the safety of its Segway PT product when used in accordance with the User Materials. Mr. Heselden believed in the Segway PT product, and we know that he would want us to get back to work at Segway Inc.”

I applaud the can-do attitude of Segway Inc, but the undeniable humor of a man who used to make protective walls for soldiers in battle meeting his demise at the hands of a Segway cannot be good for publicity. The Segway already got a bit of negative media coverage a few years back when President Bush took a dive off of one of the two wheeled vehicles. Back in 2001 when the Segway was only known as the “It” and “Project Ginger”, speculations were abounding about the fantastic new product, and the reality of the vehicle failed to impress.

All humor aside, the death of Jimi Heselden is a tragedy for his family and company, but it can be taken as a message to other business tycoons, that even though you like a product and have the money to buy the company, maybe it’s not the best idea. If Mr. Heselden had been a little more informed about the Segway and a little less a fan of it, then maybe all of this could have been avoided.

]]>https://mediaabsurdity.wordpress.com/2010/10/02/segway-company-owner-jimi-heselden-dies-riding-a-segway/feed/0jbethlong75627853Justin Bieber Has It Roughhttps://mediaabsurdity.wordpress.com/2010/09/12/justin-bieber-has-it-rough/
https://mediaabsurdity.wordpress.com/2010/09/12/justin-bieber-has-it-rough/#respondMon, 13 Sep 2010 00:14:46 +0000http://mediaabsurdity.wordpress.com/?p=346]]>A lot can be said for the perks of being famous. The money, the popularity, the ability to have everything you could ever want, the possibilities seem endless. Tween super star Justin Bieber has made himself a household name and a favorite subject of all things teenage and female. Boys in high schools across the world probably pine to be him, if only to get the attention of one special girl, but in reality Bieber has it rougher than imagined. In his light speed ascent to fame he has acquired quite a few big name enemies.

Bieber’s biggest enemy seems to be internet image board 4chan. Earlier this year a photo surfaced of Justin Bieber with the less-than-angelic Kim Kardashian, and this sparked 4chan users to hop on their desktops and trend the phrase “Justin Bieber Syphilis” to the top of Google trends in the US. A few hours into the campaign the search phrase was pushed to number one on Google trends, promoting bloggers to jump on the bandwagon and write blogs containing the phrase to boost their own hits. Of course, Bieber is disease free, but this was only the beginning for the poor little guy.

Justin Bieber soon learned the hard way that once 4chan smells blood, there is no calling them off. One of Bieber’s many websites posted a poll asking fans to vote on which company that Bieber should play a special concert in. Everything went as planned at first, with many hits for the expected countries, until 4chan got a hold of the website and poll. Within hours the votes soared and a clear winner emerged. Legitimate fan girls pouted, and it’s likely that Bieber peed his pants a little when his next destination was revealed: North Korea. No trip to the beaches of Australia or rural America for Bieber! Instead it appeared he was destined to rock out with Kim Jong-il. Bieber, of course, did not go, his security would never allow it. Who can blame him?

Pranks like this are good for a laugh but also serve to remind us that being famous isn’t all it is cracked up to be. You may get all of the ladies before you can even drive, but you also may get scheduled to perform in dangerous dictatorships.
So next time you’re feeling bitter about someone like Bieber, remember that he has problems too, just not like the ones we do.

]]>https://mediaabsurdity.wordpress.com/2010/09/12/justin-bieber-has-it-rough/feed/0jbethlong101096103Apples newest innovation: The Macbook Wheel! Just kidding.https://mediaabsurdity.wordpress.com/2010/08/22/apples-newest-inovation-the-macbook-wheel-just-kidding/
https://mediaabsurdity.wordpress.com/2010/08/22/apples-newest-inovation-the-macbook-wheel-just-kidding/#commentsSun, 22 Aug 2010 05:49:00 +0000http://mediaabsurdity.wordpress.com/?p=327]]>Apple has been the scapegoat lately for a lot of rage among the technology community. In reality, they were probably asking for it. Come on Apple, we’re not holding the phone wrong, you messed up. Also, when am I going to get Flash on my Iphone? Seriously guys, get it together! Maybe this new laptop will change the public’s mind about Apple and its recent shortcomings. Or maybe not.

Well, what do you think? Fantastic? World changing? Personally, I am most excited for 19 whole minutes of battery life! I can almost write half of an email on my new wheel keyboard in that time.

While it is clear that the Macbook Wheel is a joke, is it hitting a little too close to home for Apple? The Onion strikes the nail straight on the head with this video, and even Mac fans can chuckle over some points it makes. Apple has garnered a reputation for being high-handed and arrogant. This fake product may seem ridiculous, but it is likely someone would indeed purchase it and hail its wonderful wheel as the next step in computer technology. The truth is, some people will really buy anything shiny and made by Apple. Apple seems to make people react one of two ways: it is most likely love or hate. Opinions are everywhere about the Ipad, the Ipod, Iphone, and everything else bearing that Apple logo. So are we falling too far into Mac-mania? What will be the next inovation in simplicity, and will it run Flash? Questions are abound!

]]>https://mediaabsurdity.wordpress.com/2010/08/22/apples-newest-inovation-the-macbook-wheel-just-kidding/feed/3jbethlongWe’re still unemployed and our country is broke. And other stuff the media skipped this week.https://mediaabsurdity.wordpress.com/2010/08/20/were-still-unemployed-and-our-country-is-broke-and-other-stuff-the-media-skipped-this-week/
https://mediaabsurdity.wordpress.com/2010/08/20/were-still-unemployed-and-our-country-is-broke-and-other-stuff-the-media-skipped-this-week/#respondFri, 20 Aug 2010 23:59:09 +0000http://mediaabsurdity.wordpress.com/?p=316]]>If you were an alien, the outer space kind, not the illegal kind, and you watched any of the major news networks, you’d have no idea that we have a $13,310,379,000,000.00 debt, or that we lost another 500,000 jobs last week. What you would have learned is that a majority of Americans think Obama is a Muslim and that there’s a mosque/community center being contested in lower Manhattan. That’s pretty much it. Kind of scary huh?

The problem is, Obama’s religion isn’t relevant to my quest to find gainful employment. As more and more Americans become unemployed, give up on finding new employment and struggle to put food on the table and keep the lights on, we all should be focusing on our future, not our president’s past. I realize it really matters to some, but at this point in time it doesn’t really increase my likelihood of finding a job. The most frustrating aspect of it is, I can’t really blame the media; no one has a good solution, not even Congress! But that doesn’t mean that we should be sweeping it all under the rug and ignoring the number one problem in this country: JOBS!

Aside from the lack of jobs in this country, we have a growing national debt. $13 trillion dollars is nothing to sneeze at. Again, very minimal coverage. But what will get covered: Lindsay Lohan’s jail stay. Are you kidding me??? Who cares about a failure of an actress serving time at the LA County Country Club for a few weeks? I certainly don’t. Now, I’d care if she was going to get all her Hollywood friends to donate their salaries to pay down some of our debt, but they’re not, so I don’t. I realize that we need a break from all of the bad news we’re being inundated with on a daily basis, but we can’t forget about the stuff that truly matters and that are truly a threat to our security, well being and growth.

Instead of listening to real debate about how Obama’s mortgage aid program has been an utter failure and complete waste of money, we learned about a former Illinois governor’s hair, weird Elvis obsession and trial verdict. Yes! Precisely what I wanted to know about. (Ok, I had a slight interest in the trial, simply because it’s been a hot mess since it started. Sue me! I love the occasional train wreck!) The thing here is, The Blago Trial is big-ish news, and corrupt politicians are a serious national concern, but it’s turned into nothing but a damn circus and very reminiscent of the O.J. trial; which, at it’s conclusion was nothing but a big huge joke. The troublesome issue here is that many Americans were really behind the president’s $75 billion housing program. Many people felt the money would be helpful to fix the problem, and now we’re learning that it not only failed, but 50% of the people who participated in the program have failed too! It has done nothing to slow the increase of foreclosures and the decrease of property values.

I’m sure there are a hundred stories I’m missing here, but I can’t write forever. The thing is, there is so much happening, I’m starting to think Americans are suffering from “bad news fatigue”. I know I get burned out sometimes and have to take a break. But I fear that now it seems to be getting to the media too, or maybe they just don’t know what to report on anymore, it’s all crazy and insane out there. That said, it is easier to discuss Lohan-gate than to tackle the pesky and often headache-inducing topic of unemployment. Hell, I think I’m fatigued and I just barely scratched the surface on the subjects.